Overview:

The
Ateret castle (Latin: Vadum Iacob, English: Jacob's Ford) was a Knights
Templar fortress located on the upper Jordan river, at a key river crossing
into the Galilee. Construction started in 1178, but was not finished in time
to stand against the forces of Saladin less than a year later.

Location and map:

The ruins of
the fortress are located on the west bank of the Upper Jordan river, south of
the Hula lake and the swaps around it.

A shallow
river crossing ("Ford") is located 200m south of the ruins of the fortress, at
the place where the river bends and splits to two streams. This river
crossing, named "Jacob's Ford", was a key pass during ancient times between
the Upper Galilee on the west and the Golan heights on the east. This was also
the reason why the Crusaders erected a fortress at the site. Several bridges,
including the modern bridge of highway #91, were erected in later
periods to the north of the fortress.

History:

Earlier periods

The Crusader
fortress was built on the north part of an ancient Tel, adjacent to the Jacob's
Ford pass. The mound was roughly 300m (~300 yards) long by 100m (~100
yards) wide.

The
archaeological survey identified a continued settlement from the prehistoric
periods to the Ottoman period. On the south side of the Tel the excavators
collected numerous pottery sherds of the Early Bronze period (II-III), Middle
Bronze II, Iron Age I-II and later periods.

Biblical periods

Ceramics
dated to the Iron Age period, and the Biblical description of the Israelite
tribe borders, suggest that the city on the Tel can be identified as
"Judah upon Jordan" (Joshua 19:32, 34):

"The
sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali...And then the coast turneth
westward to Aznothtabor, and goeth out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to
Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side, and to
Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising".

A Biblical
map shows the area around the site (marked by a red marker) during the Bronze
and Iron Ages. Its location was on a section of Via Maris ("the way of the
Sea"), the most important thoroughfare crossing the land. This section
connected the strong city of Hazor
to Damascus, in the most convenient crossing point south of Lake Hulah (Huleh).
The lake and swamps were mostly drained in the 1950s, but in the 1990s some of
the lake was restored.

The area around the site - during the
Biblical periods (based on Bible
Mapper 3.0)

During
ancient times the lake, with the swamps around it, limited the possible
routes. The strategic crossing location remained important throughout all
periods, and the reason why the Crusaders selected this point for a fortress.

Medieval times - Crusaders (12th -13th century)

The Crusaders
arrived from Europe to the Holy Land in order to liberate the Holy Land and free
Jerusalem. They accomplished the mission in 1099, and established the Crusader
Kingdom. The leading commanders and the Crusaders elite were Christians of West
Europe origin, and therefore the Kingdom is often regarded as the Frankish
Kingdom, named after the Franks who were a coalition of German tribes that
spread to France and Belgium during the Roman periods.

In the
second half of the 12th century, the great
opponents of the Crusaders were the Ayyubid Muslims. This
dynasty was founded by Saladin (Salah ad-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub). The Ayyubid
Muslims ruled Syria and Egypt in the years 1171-1341.

Saladin, a Muslim of Kurdish origin, was the first Ayyubid Sultan in 1174 and
reigned until 1193. His mission was to drive the Crusaders out of the Holy Land
and the Levant, a mission that was mostly accomplished. The battle in
Jacob's Ford was one of Saladin's early successful encounters with the
Crusaders.

Saladin - by Gustave Dore (French artist,
1832-1883)

The Upper
Jordan Pass

One of the early chapters of the battles between the Crusaders and the
Ayyubid Muslims was written in the site of the Ateret fortress.

The Crusaders were surrounded by the hostile Arab world, and therefore they
spent fortunes in fortifying the borders of their Kingdom and their
main routes. A key route from the Galilee to Damascus passed
through a crossing point on the upper Jordan river, at a point south
of the Hulah lake. The pass was protected by the knights of the Templars
order, who were stationed in the Crusaders' main fortress in Zefat.

The
Templars were a military-religious organization, established in 1118,
naming their organization after the temple: the guards of the temple. Their
task, as defined by the pope, was to protect the pilgrims and patients that
visited the Holy Land.

Construction of the fortress

In
1178 King Baldwin IV constructed a fortified outpost south of the pass, in order
to provide a better protection rather then sending troops from Zefat. King
Baldwin IV (reigned 1174-1185), also called the Leper, personally supervised the
construction from a camp near the construction site. Most of his army and
a large hired work force were employed in building the new stronghold. The rectangular
fortress, 128m (400 ft) by 61 meters (200 ft), was erected on the northern side
of the ancient Tel. The construction started on Oct 1, 1178.

The site of
the fortress, near a strategic crossing ("ford") of the upper Jordan river,
was named by the Crusaders as "Jacob's Ford". This name is based on a
Crusaders tradition that Jacob met Esau at this place after they
reconciled (Genesis
32:9 and 33: 4): "for with my staff I passed over this Jordan...And
Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed
him: and they wept".

The fortress was
built over an ancient mound adjacent to the river crossing. The defense of the
fortress - named "Castellet" - was given to the Templars
who protected the pass before its construction.

Jacob meets Esau - drawing by Gustave Dore
(French artist, 1832-1883)

After
Saladin became the first Sultan in 1174, one of his first acts was
conquering Damascus. The fortification near the Jordan pass, less
than a day's ride from Damascus, offended Saladin. At that time it
was regarded as a Muslim territory and a sacred site. The fortress
would make the crossing of the Jordan river more difficult, thus
weakening the Muslim frontier.

The
Crusaders, on the other hand, felt stronger after their decisive
victory in the battle of
Montgisard, near Ramla (November, 1177),
where the 16 year old King Baldwin IV, with his outnumbered army,
defeated the Saladin army.
Baldwin therefore seized the moment to strengthen the Crusaders
positions, and Jacob's Ford was the right place to expand and change
the status quo. Another frontier fortress was constructed at
the same time in Hunin, north of
the Hulah lake, which commanded the other road from Tyre to Damascus
through Banias.

Saladin considered the construction as an act of
violation of a truce with the Crusaders. Initially, Saladin offered
to buy the fortress. He offered Baldwin to abort the project without
a battle, at the price of 60,000 gold pieces at the
first offer and 100,000 gold pieces as a second offer.

After the
Crusaders refused both proposals, Saladin decided to attack. He
waited until King Baldwin would leave the castle with some of his
army.

Both
sides first met in battle in the Golan (April 10, 1179), with the upper
hand of the Muslims.

The siege

Following
the Crusaders defeat, Saladin brought in more forces from Egypt. He
then placed a siege on the Castellet fortress
at Jacob's ford (May 27, 1179). At that time the fortress was only
partially completed, as the archaeologist concluded that only 75% of
the medieval castle was finished, and that an additional external
concentric wall was not built although it was planned. The builders
were engaged in the beginning of the second phase of the three
planned phases of construction when the Saracen forces attacked.
However, Templar knights and auxiliary forces were stationed in
the fortress and put up a strong resistance. The siege failed, as the fortress was well protected
against Saladin's forces, with towers and 10 meter high walls.

Saladin withdrew after 5 days to fight and win another battle near Marj Ayyun, north
west of Banias (June 10, 1179). After then he
returned back to continue the attempts to conquer the fortress (Aug
24). This time Saladin, who commanded the attack himself,
found a way to capture the fort: his forces cut a tunnel under
the fortress in order to set fire to its foundations. The first
attempt failed, but after enlarging the tunnel the fire caused the
walls to collapse (August 29). The Muslim forces rushed into the
fortress and overcame the Crusaders. King Baldwin, who rushed
his army to Tiberias in order to repel the attack, came too late to
rescue his men, and watched from afar the smoke rising over the
ruins.

The Muslims then butchered the 700 Crusaders, throwing their bodies
into a well or pit. This proved a grave mistake, as the
rotting corpses in the pit caused contaminated the water, and
a plague spread among the victorious Muslim soldiers. The exact
location of the burial place is yet unknown. The mass grave may have
been discovered 50m to the north of the fortress, where a wide pit
(4m in diameter, 2m deep) was found.

The fortress was then destroyed, only 11 months after the
construction started.

Aftermath

The fall of
the first large Crusader castle was a turning point in the collision
between the Muslim and the Crusaders forces, the beginning of a
Domino effect that eventually brought down the first Crusaders
Kingdom. After his victory, Saladin and his armies became more
bolder and their attacks intensified. The battle near the Horns of
Hittim (1187) was a climax in the battles between the forces,
bringing an end to the Kingdom in the Holy Land two years later.

The Ayyubid
conquerors erected a mosque on the mound to commemorate their
victory. A settlement on the mound continued during this period and
the Mameluke and Ottoman periods. Most of the stones from the
fortress were robbed and reused over the centuries.

During
the Mamluke period a new pass was opened 1KM north of the site, by
constructing a bridge. The bridge was named "Daughter's of Jacob"
bridge, inheriting the name of the Jacob's Ford pass. The fortress
building blocks were reused in the construction of the bridge, as
well as in the flour mills along the river and their water
channels.

Ottoman Period - (1516-1918
A.D.)

The
ruins of the fortress were examined in the Palestine Exploration Foundation (PEF)
survey (1866-1877) by Wilson, Conder and Kitchener. This is part of their
report on the ruins of the fortress, named Kusr 'Atra (Vol 1, Sheet IV, pp
250-251):

"Kusr 'Atra (the
Crusading castle of Castellet): This is a

rectangular castle, measuring 420 feet long by 200 feet wide. It was built
on an isolated tell above the River Jordan, and was surrounded on the north
and west by a ditch, and on the east and south by the River Jordan.

The place is entirely ruined,
though traces of the walls can still be distinguished, and some large well
dressed limestone stones are still in position. The majority of the building
material was basalt.

This castle is mentioned by
William of Tyre (book xxii. chap, x.xii.), where, describing an expedition
made by the king with his army into the country on the other side of Jordan,
it is said they came to a position called Chastellet, and from there passed
over the Jordan by the Bridge of Jacob.

' The upper surface of the hill is
generally flat, and is surrounded by a rectangular enclosure, which
consisted of a thick wall composed of small volcanic stones cased with

splendid limestone blocks either
completely smoothed or cut in relief. The casing has been three-fourths
taken away. A tower flanked each of the angles of this rectangle, and at the
centre of each side a gate was constructed, facing one of the four cardinal
points.

Within this enclosure nothing is to
be distinguished in the midst of the bushes except at the northern
extremity, at the highest part of the hill, where is remarked a mass of
piled-up rubbish, under which some foundations still in place are visible.'

—Guerin".

Part of map sheet 4 of Survey of Western Palestine, by Conder and Kitchener, 1872-1877. (Published
1880, reprinted
by LifeintheHolyLand.com)

Modern Period

The site is located in an
open area, which is easily accessible. Visitors to the site
also come to bath in the river or enjoy a picnic in the remarkable
area.

Photos

(a) Aerial Views:

An aerial view of the ruined fortress
was captured by a drone from the north west side. The upper Jordan
river is seen along the east side of the mound, as a green patch of
bushes. It then curves on the south of the mound, in the place of
the ford (shallow crossing point).

Click on the photos to view in higher
resolution...

The following YouTube
video shows a flight over the site:

(b) North side:

The north side of the fortress
is seen in this aerial view.

The
PEF report wrote about the plan: "The
upper surface of the hill is generally flat, and is surrounded by a
rectangular enclosure... A tower flanked each of the angles of this
rectangle, and at the centre of each side a gate was constructed,
facing one of the four cardinal points".

The
following photo shows a detail in the north west wall, with large
limestone ashlars on the lower side, and a pile of basalt stones
above it . This was the base of the wall, which towered 10m above
the ground level.

A
moat was cut on the north, west and south sides in order add height
and to prevent the enemy to knock down the walls with a battering
ram.

In
the center are remains of the mosque, which was constructed during
the Ayyubid period and later renovated during the Ottoman period.

The site survey reported other
artifacts found on the site: "a multitude of finds including, among
other things, coins and metal tools from the Crusader period, iron
arrowheads, ceramic grenades, horse skeletons and human bones".

Seismic activity study

On the
north and south walls of the ruined fortress are cracks, 2.1m wide,
evidence of the earthquakes that shocked the area since the
construction of the fortress.

According to the study by R. Ellenblum et. al, the displacement was
caused by the great earthquake of May 20, 1202 (a 7.6 Magnitude
quake, causing a 1.6m offset), then again in the earthquakes of 1759
and/or 1837 (added an additional 0.5m offset).

The fault line crosses the length of the fortress. A white roof was
constructed above the point where the fault passes the north wall,
in order to record the movements of the earthquake fault line.

Fault line in the north wall

(c) South side:

The south side of the ruined fortress
is seen in the aerial photo. The bend of the Jordan river, where the
Ford was located, is seen on its south side.

Etymology (behind the name):

* Names of the place:

Ford - A shallow
place on a river that allows an easy cross

Jacob's Ford - a key
river crossing in the upper Jordan river area, named by the Crusaders after
Patriarch Jacob.